Lifelong learning
Lifelong learning, also known as LLL, is the "lifelong, voluntary, and self-motivated"of Education and Science (2000). Learning for Life: White Paper on Adult Education. Dublin: Stationery Office. http://eric.ed.gov/ERICDocs/data/ericdocs2sql/content_storage_01/0000019b/80/1a/c6/5e.pdf pursuit of knowledge for either personal or professional reasons. As such, it not only enhances social inclusion, active citizenship and personal development, but also competitiveness and employability.Commission of the European Communities: "Adult learning: It is never too late to learn". COM(2006) 614 final. Brussels, 23.10.2006. The term recognises that learning is not confined to childhood or the classroom, but takes place throughout life and in a range of situations. During the last fifty years, constant scientific and technological innovation and change has had a profound effect on learning needs and styles. Learning can no longer be divided into a place and time to acquire knowledge (school) and a place and time to apply the knowledge acquired (the workplace).Fischer, Gerhard (2000). "Lifelong Learning - More than Training" in Journal of Interactive Learning Research, Volume 11 issue 3/4 pp 265-294. Instead, learning can be seen as something that takes place on an on-going basis from our daily interactions with others and with the world around us. Learning economy Field, John (2006). Lifelong Learning and the New Educational Order. Trentham Books, 2006. ISBN 1-85856-346-1 Lifelong learning contexts Although the term is widely used in a variety of contexts its meaning is often unclear.Aspin, David N. & Chapman, Judith D. (2007) "Lifelong Learning Concepts and Conceptions" in: David N. Aspin, ed.: Philosophical Perspectives on Lifelong Learning, Springer. ISBN 1402061927 There are several established contexts for lifelong learning beyond traditional "brick and mortar" schooling: *Home schooling where this involves learning to learn or the development of informal learning patterns. *Adult education or the acquisition of formal qualifications or work and leisure skills later in life. *Continuing education which often describes extension or not-for-credit courses offered by higher education institutions. *Knowledge work which includes professional development and on-the-job training. *Personal learning environments or self-directed learning using a range of sources and tools including online applications. Metacognition Literally ‘thinking about the process of knowing,’ metacognition refers to “higher order thinking which involves active control over the cognitive processes engaged in learning.”Livingston, Jennifer A. (1997). "Metacognition: An Overview" Metacognition involves: *Knowledge: awareness of your own thought processes and learning styles, and knowledge of the strategies that might be used for different learning tasks. *Control or self-regulation: keeping track of your thinking processes, regulating and evaluating them.Pintrich, Paul R (2002) The role of metacognitive knowledge in learning, teaching, and assessing Theory Into Practice, Autumn http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0NQM/is_4_41/ai_94872708 While the study of metacognition originally gave educational psychologists insights into what differentiated successful students from their less successful peers, it is increasingly being used to inform teaching that aims to make students more aware of their learning processes, and show them how to regulate those processes for more effective learning throughout their lives.Livingston, Jennifer A. (1997) Metacognition: An Overview http://www.gse.buffalo.edu/fas/shuell/CEP564/Metacog.htm As lifelong learning is "lifelong, lifewide, voluntary, and self-motivated" learning to learn, that is, learning how to recognize learning strategies, and monitor and evaluate learning, is a pre-condition for lifelong learning. Metacognition is an essential first step in developing lifelong learning. In practice In India and elsewhere, the "University of the Third Age" (U3A) provides an example of the almost spontaneous emergence of autonomous learning groups accessing the expertise of their own members in the pursuit of knowledge and shared experience. No prior qualifications and no subsequent certificates feature in this approach to learning for its own sake and, as participants testify, engagement in this type of learning in later life can indeed 'prolong active life'. In Sweden the successful concept of study circles, an idea launched almost a century ago, still represents a large portion of the adult education provision. The concept has since spread, and for instance, is a common practice in Finland as well. A study circle is one of the most democratic forms of a learning environment that has been created. There are no teachers and the group decides on what content will be covered, scope will be used, as well as a delivery method. Sometimes lifelong learning aims to provide educational opportunities outside standard educational systems — which can be cost-prohibitive, if it is available at all. On the other hand, formal administrative units devoted to this discipline exist in a number of universities. For example, the 'Academy of Lifelong Learning' is an administrative unit within the University-wide 'Professional and Continuing Studies' unit at the University of Delaware. Another example is the Jagiellonian University Extension (Wszechnica Uniwersytetu Jagiellonskiego), which is one of the most comprehensive Polish centers for lifelong learning (open learning, organizational learning, community learning). In recent years 'Lifelong Learning' has been adopted in the UK as an umbrella term for post-compulsory education that falls outside of the UK Higher Education system - Further Education, Community Education, Work-based Learning and similar voluntary, public sector and commercial settings. Lifelong learning professionals As the Jagiellonian University Extension defines it, there are seven main professional profiles in the Lifelong Learning domain: *trainer *coach *competency assessor *consultant *training project manager *curriculum designer *mentor See also *Adult education *Andrew Cohen *Autonomous learning *Brain fitness *Community college *Continuing education *E-learning *Experiential education *Folkbildning in Scandinavia an approach to community education *Folk High School *Further education *History of personal learning environments *Learning *Learning community *Osher Lifelong Learning Institutes *Part-Time Learner *UNESCO Institute for Lifelong Learning *University of the Third Age (U3A) *Vocational education *Widening participation Further reading *''Lifelong Learning and the New Educational Order'' by John Field (Trentham Books, 2006) ISBN 1-85856-346-1 *''The Rapture of Maturity: A Legacy of Lifelong Learning'' by Charles D. Hayes ISBN 09621979-4-7 *''SELF-UNIVERSITY: The Price of Tuition is the Desire to Learn. Your Degree is a Better life'' by Charles D. Hayes ISBN 0-9621979-0-4 *''Beyond the American Dream: Lifelong Learning and the Search for Meaning in a Postmodern World'' by Charles D. Hayes ISBN 0-9621979-2-0 * Pastore G., Un’altra chance. Il futuro progettato tra formazione e flessibilità, in Mario Aldo Toscano, Homo instabilis. Sociologia della precarietà, Grandevetro/Jaca Book, Milano 2007 ISBN 978-88-16-40804-3 *"Nine Shift: Work, life, and education in the 21st Century," By William A. Draves and Julie Coates ISBN1-57722-030-7 Notes Category:Alternative education Category:Philosophy of education Category:Educational psychology Category:Personal development Category:Educational stages Category:Education reform